About me
Growing up in the heartland of Texas, Indians, and Tennessee, I had vast resources in a broad spectrum of the arts. I started early with writing. It was a natural fit. Theatre and I have had a passionate affair since I first stepped on stage in talent contests starting st age 3. By age 7, I was playing the drums. By age 4, I was performing on the piano. Age 9 brought me together with an incredible organist, who taught me on a Hammond B3 with Leslie. Age 9, I was back performing as a vocalist in my junior high performance troupe. I did choir, woodshop, metal foundry, yearbook editor and cover artist, as well as staff photographer. I was also hired as a professional pianist at the age of 11, recording my first album at age 12, and again at ages 14, and 15. Due to my musical talent and intensive training, I was in a position to meet and work with many Country Music stars such as Dollie Parton, Johnny Cash, Emmy Lou Harrison, Reba McIntyre, Minnie Pearl, Kris Kristofferson, Burt Reynolds, and Jane Fonda. I also have appeared on Television a number of times: The Short Lived "Nashville 99," the movie "Nashville," "Rhinestone Cowboy," "The Earl Scruggs Show," and several other minor appearances. I've been an entrepreneur on several occasions, always built around my talents, including art. I was a founding partner of "The Atlantis Group," a collaborative of 5 people, creating theme party decor and larger corporate events in Atlanta. Here, I also began to show promise as a foreman in the construction and renovation of single family homes, eventually leading to managing teams as large as 35 men. I also got involved as a professional model with a larger agency, which, within 8 months, I bought out the partners and went solo with that venture. I also taught modeling and etiquette to teens and young adults. All of these ventures crisscrosses each other in some way. For example, 12 of my male models also worked for me as part of my construction crew, as well as helping with corporate event set up and breakdown. My list of corporate clients in all of these ventures was impressive, and a list us available if you like to read it. After three years of working upwards of 100 hours a week, one of my eventual partners bought 37 houses in Jacksonville's Historic Springfield neighborhood, where Victorian mansions and apartment building were selling for dirt cheap, and I chose to nave to Jacksonville to become an historic home renovator. I sold our other companies at that point due to steadier income, the lure of a free place to live, and a company vehicle. My network of acquainted led me to an opportunity in Fort Lauderdale that was hard to say no to. I'd finished most of the historic homes in Springfield, and realized the stress on my body was eventually going to overwhelm, so I moved to Ft Lauderdale and went back to college (my first college experience was as a music major. This time, my life long live of art became very focused for me. After 3 years as a Graphic Design major, I realized my true love was fine art. I insisted on taking all the required courses set by the state to graduate with a BFA, and not just an Associates degree. During my search for a college with a strong background in fine art, Ringling College offered me an extremely generous scholarship package that I simply could not refuse. Ringling is one of the topiary and Design colleges in the nation (cc: World News and Report, 2009.) Ringling encourages full and total immersion into the art business from day one. Due to my training at Broward College, Ringling let me skip my first year. And because I was the sculpture studio monitor at Broward, Ringling immediately hired me to do similar work as work-study. I graduated, having won numerous student contests, and being honored by the art department at Broward by being the only student to be asked to leave an outdoor sculpture up for 6 months, whereas the other students had to remove theirs after two weeks.
Work / Education
Graduated from Ringling College of Art and Design - 2012 - Fine Art major, Painting concentration. I've also studied at great length subjects such as 3D ceramics, sculpture, installations, video art, visual merchandising, graphic design, printmaking, atmospheric art, and theatre design. My career before my formal education included music, performance, dance, stage set design, murals, print media, publishing, art direction, commercial engraving, business management, and much more. I also enjoy creating trompe l'oeil, faux finishes, archaeological reproductions, learning coding and big data base comprehension and forecasting, and pursuing my Master's degree in Organizational Psychology.
